Wandering

With three tragic drowning deaths of autistic children who wandered in the past week, wandering has become a big issue. This article is by far the best thing I've read on the topic so far:

http://www.babble.com/mom/autism-community-reels-three-drowning-deaths-in-one-week/


Landon Bryce also reposted a previous article and video clip. This is essential viewing and will shake up your way of looking at wandering:

http://thautcast.com/drupal5/content/wandering-and-gulf-between-parenthood-and-me

Common reasons kids avoid getting started

There are lots of reasons why students (not just people with Autism/Asperger's) have trouble getting started. Below are a few clues.

Please note: these are not ALL the possible reasons for someone having difficulty getting started, and any assumptions based on the following could turn out to be incorrect for the individual student you're dealing with. It is absolutely vital that we parents and teachers be respectful enough to ask them. You never know, that one simple question might save months or even years of angst.

Fear of failure - We all hate feeling like a failure. Young people/adults/children refuse to partake of activities often because they are afraid to be laughed at, or even simply afraid of finding out they aren't very good at something.

Fear of success - my son once told me that he didn't want to excel at school, because that would set up an expectation of success level from the adults at school - an expectation he didn't feel he could consistently work to. Sometimes people are also afraid of success because they don't have a concept of what that successful experience could look/feel like. The unknown terrifies them and thus holds them back.

It's all too much Type 1 - the student could be in overwhelm for any number of reasons. Try to learn what this looks like and be alert to when it might be happening. Work out a management strategy with your student, such as giving them a ten minute break from the noisy classroom so that they can re-group. Wherever possible, try to incorporate strategies like this as preventative steps rather than reactive solutions. This gives the child some control over their own behaviour management as well.

It's all too much Type 2 - sometimes the task is just too complicated or detailed for your student. Or there could be too many steps involved. Quite often students on the spectrum will have fine motor delay, which will mean they are slower to get work done. If the task seems too big or time-consuming, they will avoid it. In this case it's a good idea to cut the task down into smaller chunks (you teachers know that word "chunking"!), and give your Aspie student a reduced list of steps to achieve. How much you cut this down will depend on your student, but a good rule of thumb is to take the chunking you think is age appropriate and double the number of chunks (i.e.: create smaller bites to chew). You might even need to give them one small step at a time, as the awareness of the second step could be enough of a distraction to prevent commencement. NB: I have had a teacher say that they don't like this idea, as it felt like he was treating the student as someone much younger, and he didn't think that was okay. But please remember, it's never condescending to give your student what they need in order to learn. You're doing them a favour by adapting to their needs instead of forcing them into your worldview, and they don't know (or care) what level of chunking is age-appropriate, so it's really (honestly) a good thing for you to do it. Very small chunks could mean that your student finally experiences success. Isn't it exciting to think you could be the catalyst for that experience?

It's all too much Type 3 - Your student might have poor executive functioning (ability to plan and organise their work/thoughts/body). Around age 7, my son found this so difficult that when he was asked to sit and write something, he would sit with a piece of paper in front of him, behaving perfectly, but he would write nothing. As it turned out, the reason he had not begun was because it had not occurred to him to bring a pencil to the table, and he couldn't figure out what was missing when it came time to get started. This is a very intelligent child who simply could not work out what to do, because he couldn't think that many steps ahead. So you might find that with your student, you will have to do a lot of organising for them. Your objective is to build independence though, so try to give them systems to follow, rather than hand-holding through every step (although you will have to be diligent and patient as they build the neural pathways to be able to do this for themselves). A simple idea might be to have checklists stuck to their desk (such as 'What equipment do I need?'), so that they can work through a list of what to do next for fundamental tasks like preparing to write. But remember to be patient. It will take a long time and a lot of support for this skill to find its place.

Didn't catch all the instructions - a student with attention difficulties (this is also a common side effect of sensory overwhelm), might only hear part of the instructions. This student will frequently be unwilling to ask you to tell them again, because they have often found themselves being disciplined for not listening properly. Often instructions called out from the front of the classroom don't work for the student with Autism, because all that student hears is "yelling". After instructing your class, approach this student and (rather than repeating everything you just said), ask her to tell you in her own words what she needs to get done. This will give you some awareness of what she has understood, and an opportunity to clear up any miscommunications. It is also helpful to list instructions on the board as a ready reference, as your student might not be able to retain more than one step at a time.

Perfectionism - we see perfectionism in young children all the time, and it's a tough one to break, but it's vital that we do, because the anxiety related to this can completely prevent commencement and cause much bigger problems down the track. This is fear of failure at its worst. I recommend having a Mistakes Are Good Because We Learn From Them whole classroom culture. Also, many teachers make kids earn a pen licence (they must be able to write to a certain quality before they are allowed to use a pen for their classwork). I recommend doing the complete opposite, because kids can't erase pen mistakes, so they can get used to seeing that they aren't the only ones who have errors in their work. Another positive side-effect is that teachers can see what errors individual students are making, discover gaps in learning and plan future classes accordingly. Also, the child with fine-motor delay is rarely if ever going to meet the standard and thus earn the pen licence. Do you really want them to feel so bad by pointing out that they can never, ever measure up to their peers?

Sensory reasons - sometimes you will have a student on the spectrum who will refuse to start an activity or join in, but there doesn't appear to be any rational reason for this decision, and they aren't telling you what's wrong. Look for reasons such as those outlined above, but also be sure to ask a clear question such as, "Is there something specific about this activity which is preventing you from joining in?" My son has an irrational fear of styrofoam (related to the squeaky noise it makes). As articulate and verbal as he is, when faced with the prospect of an activity involving styrofoam, he will completely shut down and refuse to even enter the room, quickly losing the capacity to explain what is wrong, without adult intervention and assistance. If the issue is a fear like this, there is no reason worth forcing them to face the fear in front of their peers. Let it go, find another activity for this student, or change what you are doing in the classroom so as to include them.

And don't forget - it's imperative that we ask the direct questions, or we'll never really be sure we have the correct answers.

Get vs Get Away

Children mostly act out behaviours with one of two motivations – to get something (gain), or to get away from something (avoid). This isn't really unique to children! It does however serve us to think this way regarding difficult behaviours in children, because more inroads can be made if the questions are asked:

What does she want to gain from doing that? Or is there something she's trying to avoid?

Examples:

• A child whines incessantly because they have learned that often adults get so sick of listening to whining, they eventually give the child what they've been asking for (gain), simply to get some peace (adult gains something too and avoids stress).
• A child with auditory sensitivities will often be noisy in order to drown out (avoid) noises that are bothering them.
• Another child with proprioceptive challenges might constantly touch everything and everyone all day long, despite being told repeatedly to keep hands to themselves. They might also be constantly on the move. (These behaviours are usually to gain sensory input and feel at ease or safe in the world).
• One child might be shy and standoffish because they want to avoid making social faux pas which could leave them vulnerable amongst their peers.
• Another child might take a long time to go out onto the playground at recess because they are avoiding a bully, or not enjoying the prospect of hot weather.

If we can look at all behaviours with this “get versus get away” question in mind, it often makes it easier to firstly get to the root of the problem, and then find an appropriate solution. It also often makes what at first seemed like a really difficult and bothersome behaviour, become a much more understandable and less troublesome issue.

So, lets look at a particular behaviour. A child gets up and wanders around the room several times during a teaching session. This behaviour could be explained in a myriad of general ways – he could be wanting to look at others' work, he could be restless, he might have attention issues, he might be looking for an escape route, he might not want to do the work, and so on.

But for each of these possibilities, what would he be hoping to gain or get away from? Knowing that he has attention issues, while it helps us be more understanding by introducing compassion, doesn't really get to the root of the current problem. It simply describes an over-arching problem which might be behind the current need. If he's restless, what has made him restless? Is he avoiding discomfort? Is his seat uncomfortable? Is he cold? Is he avoiding anxiety? Is the work too difficult or overwhelming? Is he avoiding getting started (and if so, that's a large behaviour-set on its own, which needs the same questions asked of it). Is he trying to have a break from sensory inputs? Are the lights bothering him? Is he upset? Has someone who sits near him been bullying?

The possibilities are endless, but if you can narrow down what he might be trying to avoid/get away from, or gain/get by moving around the room, then you're halfway there.

Getting Started in the Classroom

The Blank Page

You have a child in your class whom you know is capable and clever, but they usually struggle to make a start on their work. They sit there for inordinate amounts of time, staring at the blank page in front of them, then they do anything they can to avoid getting started. They sharpen pencils, fidget, argue, sulk, whine, chat to their friends, try to make the whole class erupt in laughter, even get out of their chair and wander around, or they put their head down on their arms and try to sleep. They probably have plenty of other self-distracting strategies too.

In this case the child is usually trying (consciously or otherwise), to avoid anxiety. They might not fully understand the instructions, or (more commonly), they are completely overwhelmed and don't think it's achievable. So they don't start.

While there is a long list of more specific reasons why a child might struggle to get started on a classroom task, the simplest one to solve is The Blank Page.

Sometimes all it takes to get that child feeling less overwhelmed, is giving them a page which is ruled down and across the middle, dividing the page into four quarters. Or if it's an art task, give them a box to draw shapes in. If it's a more complex art task like shading, then give them the shape to practise shading - then ask them to draw and shade a couple of objects themselves as well.

Sometimes it's almost as though having something on the page means the task has already been started for them. Sometimes it's just that the task is broken down into smaller chunks.

The Full Page

Sometimes the opposite problem applies, resulting in the same behaviour. You've stayed up all night putting together worksheets for your students – you even went to the trouble to think up 40 questions for them to answer during the session. But instead of excitement and praise from them when you hand it out, you have that child sulking and refusing to get started.

Let's think about what you've given them from their point of view though. It's not a blank page, but it is a very busy page. The sheer volume of questions can completely overwhelm and trigger high anxiety reactions in some children, usually because they don't want to fail at the task. So they don't start.

You didn't do anything wrong with the number of questions on the paper, because there are some young people who will love that challenge. But you might want to stop at that particular child's desk and tell them they only have to do ten questions, and any others after that will get them bonus points/kudos/bragging rights (whatever reward you see as suitable). Sometimes this child will also need you to mark on the page where they should start and stop, giving them the clear boundary they need in order to commence the task. Sometimes it works best if you choose questions at the end of the paper, giving the child more of a sense of completion because they then reach the bottom of the page.